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Administrative Law Keyed to Cass
Portland Audubon Society v. Endangered Species Committee
Citation:
984 F.2d 1534 (1993)Facts
The Portland Audubon Society and other environmental groups petitioned for review of the Endangered Species Committee’s May 15, 1992 decision granting an exemption from the Endangered Species Act to the Bureau of Land Management for thirteen timber sales in western Oregon. The environmental groups alleged that improper ex parte communications between the White House and Committee members violated the Administrative Procedure Act. Based on press reports from Associated Press and Reuters, and a declaration from their lead counsel Victor Sher, the environmental groups claimed that at least three Committee members were summoned to the White House and pressured to vote for the exemption. Sher’s sources indicated that White House staff had substantial ongoing contacts with Committee members concerning the substance of their decisions through telephone, facsimile, and staff intermediaries, and that White House staff made substantial comments on draft versions of the Committee’s final decision. The environmental groups sought discovery including interrogatories, document production, and depositions to investigate these alleged communications.
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